Write-down leads to big loss at Astronics
Published: February 09, 2010, 9:44 am
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Astronics Corp. lost $9.7 million in the fourth quarter because of a big write-down in the value of its test systems business, but the East Aurora aircraft lighting and electronics manufacturer's sales inched up by 3 percent.
Astronics executives also warned that its business is not expected to pick up this year, with revenues being either flat, or down as much as 10 percent. The company said its sales during the current year are likely to range between $170 million and $190 million, which would be less than the $191 million in revenues it posted last year.
During the fourth quarter, the previously announced write-down in the value of its DME test systems business caused Astronics to lose 90 cents per share, which was more than five times the $1.8 million, or 17 cents per share, the company lost during the same period a year ago.
Excluding the $19.4 million write-down, which reduced Astronics' earnings by $1.15 per share, the company earned 25 cents per share from its operations, which was better than the 9 cents per share that analysts were expecting, but worse than the 44 cents per share that it earned a year ago before one-time charges.
Fourth-quarter sales improved to $45.6 million from $44.4 million because last January's acquisition of the test systems business bolstered revenues by nearly $13 million, offsetting significantly weaker revenues from Astronics' other businesses.
Astronics aerospace sales slid by 18 percent to 36.6 million as its commercial transport, military and business jet markets all were hit hard by the recession. Excluding the DME acquisition, sales were off by 26 percent.
Commercial transport sales slumped by 15 percent as airlines put off plans to upgrade their cabin electronics systems. Military revenues dropped by 32 percent as the Tactical Tomahawk cruise missile program wound down. Business jet sales were off by 34 percent as new aircraft production rates have dropped sharply.
While Peter J. Gundermann, Astronics' president and chief executive officer, said the company is seeing more bidding opportunities lately, the company's $30 million new order bookings in the quarter was down 27 percent from a year ago, leaving its $85 million backlog of orders down 4 percent from the end of 2008.
"We expect the year to start off slow and accelerate in the latter half," Gundermann said.
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